Lockdowns, working from home, and physical distancing caused people to spend larger shares of their household budgets on food and housing, while fewer people bought nonessentials, like airline tickets and clothing. And with incomes down as millions have lost their jobs, spending on nonessential items will likely remain depressed. The consumer price index (CPI) does not reflect these abrupt changes in spending patterns because the CPI weights are not continuously updated. For example, the CPI could be pulled down by a...

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The European Commission has informed Amazon of its preliminary view that it has breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in online retail markets. The Commission takes issue with Amazon systematically relying on non-public business data of independent sellers who sell on its marketplace, to the benefit of Amazon's own retail business, which directly competes with those third party sellers. The Commission also opened a second formal antitrust investigation into the possible preferential treatment of Amazon's own retail offers and...

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Full discussion available as a PDF | This discussion paper considers regulatory and supervisory issues relating to outsourcing and third-party relationships. It will facilitate a discussion on current regulatory and supervisory approaches to the management of outsourcing and third-party risks. Financial institutions have relied on outsourcing and other third-party relationships for decades. However, in recent years, the extent and nature of interactions with a broad and diverse ecosystem of third parties has evolved, particularly in the area of technology. The financial...

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The coronavirus pandemic represents a very large shock for the global and EU economies, with very severe economic and social consequences. Economic activity in Europe suffered a severe shock in the first half of the year and rebounded strongly in the third quarter as containment measures were gradually lifted. However, the resurgence of the pandemic in recent weeks is resulting in disruptions as national authorities introduce new public health measures to limit its spread. The epidemiological situation means that...

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Digitalization has in the past few years enabled developing countries in particular to leapfrog on financial inclusion. Countries like Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania have made great advances in connecting their citizens to financial systems by leveraging on mobile phone technology. "Digitalization must be driven by the needs of the people and work for them." As the world has grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, with closing of borders, curfews, lockdowns and other movement restrictions, digitalization has come to the rescue. Online...

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